Folding sofa-bed



(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheen 1. R.`H. GARLAND. FOLDING SOFA BED.

No. 302,904. Patented Aug. 5, 1884.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 e. H. GARLAND.

FOLDING SOFA BED.

No. 302,904. Patented Aug. 5, 1884.

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R. H. GARLAND.

FOLDING SOFA BBD. v

Patented Aug. 5, 1884.

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FOLDING SOFA-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. $502,904.-, datedAugust 5, 1884.

Application tiled March 27, 1883.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. GARLAND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in a Folding` Sofa-Bed, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to a sofa that may be quickly and convenientlyopened to form abed with adjustable back and arm sections, with swingingend sections, arms and end sections so constructed that either end maybe used as the head part of' a bed; also is so arranged that the armsand sections may be lowered or raised to any desired height.

The objects of my improvements are, first, to provide a sofa wherein theupholstering, when the arm-sections and back are lowered, will form abed, with a continuous line of upholstering from end toend and side toside,without ridges or breaks 5 second, in so constructing the mainframe-work of a sofa as to dispense with a central longitudinal railunder the fabric when unfolded, whereby the fabric is left free tospring down, under the weight of the occupant, without coming in contactwith the frame. I attain these objects by the illustrations shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of4 mysofa as opened for abcd. Fig. 2 is a plan of the frame with upholsteringand arm-sections removed;-

Fig. 3, a reverse view of Fig. 2, showing the pawl andmanner of holdingsegment-gears of the frame A; Fig. 4, an inside view ot' end elevation,showing the working of the back and Fig. 6, a perspective view of theframe of my sofa, broken away at left-hand corner to show manner ofplacing the bolt-hinge on front rail. l

Fig. 7 represents a section on the lines s in Fig. 2, looking across theback-frame; Fig. 8, aleft end elevation with head-section halt' thrownout from back-frame; Fig. 9, a detached view of head-section folded, asseen from the back when the invention is used as a sofa; Fig. 10, adetached view of the rail b; Fig. 11, a detailed view in perspective ofthe support-legs I,with rail b shown in dotted lines; Fig. 12, adetached View of the rods R and rail b.

(No model.)

The same letters denot the same parts in all the figures. i

A represents the stationary frame of the sofa, of which there are theusual number of pieces,

consisting of a front and back rail, end rails, h

A A, and center girts, c a c. The frame B is similarly constructed, buthaving only one gi rt in the center to brace or stiften it. The endstandards, b b, of frame B are extended a little below the line of theirjuncture with the lower rail, and hinged to the rails A A by abolt-hinge,C, which allows the said'frame B to be vertically andhorizontally adjusted.

Pivoted by bolts Dl to the upper side of the girts c are thesegment-gears D and D', so constructed that their eogged surfaces occupyabout one-fourth ofthe arc of a circle. Said gears may be constructedentirely of iron, or the main body may be composed of wood and thecogged surface made oi' cast-iron or other like material and pinned onafter. On the upper and lower surface of these gears are securelyfastened rings E and F. the rings E are held the rods G, which rods arefurther attached to screw-rings said rings being united to the rails bon their under surface. The rods Gr are bent near their center at suchan angle that when the back B is lowered, the rods will lie almostparallel with the rails A. A and b b, which object is to avoid being inthe way ofthe operation of the arm-section and the knuckle ot' the hingeC. The rods H are attached to the rings F in a similar manner as rods G.rlhe other ends of the rods H are loosely pivoted to the supportfeet II. Said rods H are hinged at d, so as to fold and unfold readily withthe movement of the back B, and are so constructed. that they cause thefeet I to move simultaneously with the movement of' said back, so thatwhen the back is clear down fora bed, the feet I are in a verticalposition to hold the weight of the occupant. i (See Figs. 4 and 7.) Therods H are further provided with anti-friction rollers e, secured to theinner side of the back of the back legs,f, of frame A, so that thereciprocation of these rods maybe accomplished with as little frictionas possible. The teeth of gears D engage with pawls g and r/, whichserve to secure the gears in the positions desired. rIhe In the eye ofICO the rod fZ is coiled.

pawls g are loosely pivoted to the under side of the end rails, A, Fig.3, and are held in position against the gears by coiled springs h.tached to the same end of the pawl g with the spring is a rod, z', thatextends diagonally across the bottom of the frame A from inside frontright-hand corner of rail A' to outside left-hand corner of rail A", andis there united to a lever, J. The lever J has its fulcrum in Aa fixedsupport, J', which is fastened to the rail A". rEhe pawl g'is pivoted tothe rail A" in a similarmanner as pawl g, and is secured to a rod, Z',which in turn is fastened to a le-` ver-arm, K. The lever K has itsfulcrum in the bolt K', which secures said lever to the upper surface ofrail a. The upper end of lever K is provided with a pin, K", aroundwhich Through this pin the pawls g are operated, shown as follows: Thelever J being pressed backward by the hand, the pawls g, through theirrods j i', are thrown out of the'gears D and the frameB is adjusted upor down. The springs h recall the movement of the pawls as soon as thelever J is released, and thus fasten or relieve the gears. The coiledsprings D"' return the movement of the gears D after being drawn back bythe movement of the frame B. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 indicate theextent of the movement ofthe segment-gears D when the frame B is broughtforward to form a sofa.

The support-,legs I are secured to the frame B by butt-hinges j,-onestrap of which is secured to the inner lower side of the top rail offrame B, and the other strap is secured to the top of the slat 7cthatunites the legs. The lower outside corner of the top rail of frame Bis grooved longitudinally its entire length, forming arecess, B', forthe slat k to restin when the frame B is down for a bed, and also takingoff all strain and pressure from the hinges, Figs. 4 and 7.

The arm sectionsof the stationary frame A consist of the curved siderails L L', connected by slats Z Z'. By reference to the drawings Figs.6, 8, it will be noticed that said slats stand at different angles witheach other, and also at different angles with the side rails L. When thearm-sections are adjusted to form a sofa, the slat Z stands aboutvertical, and crosses the grain of thewood, where it is united with therails L at an obtuse angle. rIhe slat Zstands at the same time atanangle of forty-ve degrees from the perpendicular, and crosses the grainin the upper part of rails L in a similar manner as the lower slat, Z.Usually these slats have been so constructed that they were united tothe side rails parallel with the grain of the rail, and the pressure onthese sections was liable at any time to split the rails, and so spoilthe utility of the arm. The object in placing my slats in the positionin which they are shown is to overcome this objection and to render thearms stronger, and thereby more durable; so they are placed at such anangle with the grain of the rails as to bring the strain Air.

of the arm on the grain, where it is best able to bear it. The rail L',by reference to Fig. 10, it will be seen, stands at a different anglethanthe front rail L. The object is that it may operate -whenupholstered to give the right pitch for the back B when folded as asofa.

In the lower slat, Z, at each end, near its connectiou with the siderails L, are fastened segment-gears M. rIhese gears are so arranged thatin the vertical adjustment of the arm-sections their teeth just clearthe inner edge of the rails A'. Inserted in a socket in the uppersurface of said rails is a horizontal'bar, N,

which is provided at each end with a tongue, N', that engages the teethof the gears M, and serves to lock the arm-section in any desiredposition. The center of the bar Nis pivotally attached to levers O,which stand at right angles with the bars. The levers O are pivoted at Oto the upper surface of the rails A', which pivot forms the fulcrum forsaid levers. The movements of these levers are horizontal, and theextent either way is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. Thesprings m serve to keep the tongues N' into the teeth of the gears M.The levers O are operated by thumb-pieces O".

P I? represent head-sections operating in connection with and locking inthe arms L, when used asabed, and detached and swinging in back of theframe B, out of sight when used as asofa. (See Fig. 6.) The sections Pare united and locked with the armsections L through fastenings yP',which fit into a socket of similar shape in the rails L', under the sameprinciple as an ordinary bedstead-fastening.

On the inner side of the topv and bottom rails of sections l? arepivoted rods Q. These rods are hinged at Q' to connecting-rods It, whichare held in bearings B'. Said bearings are secured to the back of siderails b by set- IOO screws, and stand parallel with each other at lhorizontal movement in said bearings It' when adjusting the sections I),said movement being necessary in order that the rods Q may clear theouter corner of the side rails b.

In constructing the frame of any of the parts of my sofa I can employother material than wood, so long as it accomplishes the obj ectdesired-the cheapness and durability of manufacture. In shipping my'sofato any distance, by unfastening the rods G and II from the rings c andwithdrawing the pintle of the hinge C, I fold the frame B down upon thestationary frame A, and thereby save spacein packing.

By doing away with the longitudinal rail in center of my sofa, which isthe one great drawback in the comfort of resting on one of these sofaswhen used as a bed, I gain a great advantage over other sofa-beds. Inorder to accomplish this, I extend the side rails, A, be-

yond the back rail (shown in dotted lines inf rail of frame A.holsterin'g.

In upholstering my sofa I employ a strong canvas lining or other strongmateriahwhioh covers up all the movements of the Various parts, so thatthere is nothing to show its use as a bed when folded as a sofa. Theslats Zin the armsections extend below the knuckle of the hinge C, whichforms a back on which to place the'upholstering, and thereby fill up thespace left when the arms L are thrown down to form a bed.

The bolt-hinge C forming subject-matter of a following' application, Ido not claim any of its parts broadly, only so far as it combines withthemovements of the Various parts of my present invention. y

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

This space I fill up with up- 1. The combination of the main frame of asofa with back hinged thereto, a support, I 7c, hinged to said back,geared segments pivoted to the main frame, as described, rods connectingsaid segments and the back and its support, as specified, and means, asset forth, for locking the geared segments, as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The combination of the back frame of a sofa with bearings R securedthereto, the head-sections I), connected to the back by the rods R andQ, as specified, and means for uniting the head-sections with thearmy-sections, as and for the purpose described.

RICHARD H. GARLAND.

Vitnesses:

J. S. SMITH, R. S. KITTREDGE.

